Browser-based mobile image capture

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for integrating mobile image capture with an internet browser application on a mobile device are provided, wherein a user viewing a web page via the internet browser application can initiate a mobile image capture process on the mobile device through the web page, capture images with a mobile image capture user interface, and then provide secure access to the captured images for the web page in order to utilize the content of the captured images. The mobile image capture process is accessible through any internet browser application via the mobile device and allows any service running on a web page to benefit from the ability to capture an image on the mobile device and obtain the content of the image through mobile image processing. The browser-based mobile image capture allows mobile devices which do not run certain third party applications to utilize mobile image capture and processing.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No.61/914,847, filed on Dec. 11, 2013, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

Various embodiments described herein relate generally to the field ofimage capture using a mobile device. More particularly, variousembodiments are directed to integrating mobile image capture with aninternet-browser application on the mobile device.

2. Related Art

Mobile phone adoption continues to escalate, including ever-growingsmart phone adoption and tablet usage. Mobile imaging is a disciplinewhere a consumer takes a picture of a document, and that document isprocessed, extracting and extending the data contained within it forselected purposes. The convenience of this technique is powerful and iscurrently driving a desire for this technology throughout financialservices and other industries.

Numerous applications utilizing mobile image capture have been developedfor various financial services such as check deposits, bill pay, creditcard balance transfers, and insurance account services, to name a few.These applications rely on the use of a third party application runningon the mobile device that is managed by the service provider, such as abank, utility or insurance company. The mobile image capture process isbuilt into the third party application and is often customized for theparticular third party service through the use of specific userinterfaces and image capture parameters that are designed to capturecertain types of documents with known properties and content. The mobileimage capture process is therefore limited to use only within thespecific third party application and cannot be utilized for anotherpurpose for which it has not already been integrated. This effectivelyprevents the use of mobile image capture for mobile devices which do notrun these third party applications or for services which are accessedthrough a mobile web browser instead of the third party application thatis resident on the mobile device.

Therefore, it is desirable to broaden the use of mobile image capturefor use with additional services and platforms available on the mobiledevice.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for integrating mobile imagecapture with an internet browser application on a mobile device. Variousembodiments provide for a user viewing a web page via the internetbrowser application to initiate a mobile image capture process on themobile device through the web page, capture one or more images with amobile image capture user interface, and then provide secure access tothe one or more captured images for the web page to utilize the contentof the one or more captured images. The mobile image capture process isaccessible through any internet browser application via the mobiledevice and allows any service running on a web page to benefit from theability to capture an image on the mobile device and obtain the contentof the image through mobile image processing.

Other features and advantages should become apparent from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments disclosed herein are described in detail withreference to the following figures. The drawings are provided forpurposes of illustration only and merely depict typical or exemplaryembodiments. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader'sunderstanding and shall not be considered limiting of the breadth,scope, or applicability of the embodiments. It should be noted that forclarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily madeto scale.

FIG. 1A is a workflow diagram illustrating an exemplary network topologythat may be used for browser-based mobile image capture, according toembodiments.

FIG. 1B is a workflow diagram illustrating an alternative exemplarynetwork topology that may be used for browser-based mobile imagecapture, according to embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of performingbrowser-based mobile image capture according to embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a further exemplary method ofperforming browser-based mobile image capture according to embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer/serversystem upon which an embodiment of the inventive methodology may beimplemented

The various embodiments mentioned above are described in further detailwith reference to the aforementioned figured and the following detaileddescription of exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments described herein provide for an internet browserapplication running on a mobile device to interface with a mobile imagecapture application running on the mobile device to provide for mobileimage capture and processing for web-based services accessible throughweb pages on the internet browser application. This browser-based mobileimage capture allows services which do not provide downloadableapplications that run on the mobile device to utilize mobile imagecapture and processing features through the web browser. Additionally,mobile devices which do not provide or have access to third partyapplications can also utilize mobile image capture and processing.Furthermore, a mobile image capture application may be run on the mobiledevice as a standalone image capture application by the user of themobile device in order to utilize the image capture and processingfeatures apart from a related application.

System Overview

FIG. 1A is a workflow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a systemand method for browser-based mobile image capture. As illustrated inFIG. 1A, the system utilizes a mobile device for accessing the web-basedservice and the mobile image capture application and a server forstoring and providing secure access to the captured images to theweb-based service. The mobile device is configured to run at least oneinternet browser application which allows a user to access the Internet,and specifically web pages for services which require capturing one ormore images with content required for providing the services. The mobiledevice may run more than one internet browser application which the usercan select from when accessing a web page; however, the user can selectany internet browser application when utilization of the mobile imagecapture process is needed.

The mobile device is also configured to run a micro application(“MicroApp”) which interfaces with the browser to receive a request formobile image capture, initiates a mobile image capture application andcoordinates the transmission of the captured images to a remote server.The micro application also coordinates the transmission of schema fromthe browser to the mobile image capture application and the server whichmay pertain to the destination URL for the captured images or imagecapture settings to use when capturing the at least one image using themobile device. In one embodiment, the schema may be transmitted using aJSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format. The mobile image captureapplication utilizes a camera on the mobile device and provides a userinterface that allows a user to capture one or more high quality imageswith content that is needed for the web-based services. The features ofthe mobile image capture application provide for the user to easily andquickly capture high quality images of content with the mobile device,such as documents, financial papers, identification cards, licenseplates, vehicle identification numbers (VIN) and other words, numbersand symbols that may be needed by a web-based service and which wouldotherwise require manual entry of the content through more cumbersomeentry methods such as typing or touch-based inputs.

The server may be configured to receive the one or more captured imagesfrom the micro application and store the captured images in a connecteddatabase for access by the web-based service. The server may alsoreceive the schema from the micro application with the data on thedestination for the captured images. The captured images may be securelystored and provide limited access using a token-based system or othersecure protocol to ensure that the captured images and any contentextracted therefrom are utilized only for the specific service that theuser selects. The server may then send a response to the microapplication confirming that the image and related data has been receivedand stored, which may prompt the micro application to close and returnthe user to the browser application. As will be described in furtherdetail below, the captured images may then be requested (securely viathe token) by the web-based service that the user is accessing with theinternet browser on the mobile device, after which the captured imagesare transmitted to servers for the web-based service (not illustratedherein) at the destination URL provided in the schema. In oneembodiment, the servers for the web-based service may perform imagecorrection on the received images to obtain images which meet certainstandards and requirements for content extraction such that the contentcan be extracted with a high degree of confidence. The servers for theweb-based service may then perform content extraction steps on thecorrected images in order to produce a content file of the extractedcontent for use by the web-based service.

In an alternate embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the captured imagesmay be stored directly on the mobile device without needing to store theimages at a remote server, and the captured images can then betransmitted directly to the servers of the web-based service directlyfrom the mobile device. In this embodiment, the micro application (alsoknown as the “Collaborative Application”) provides for storing the oneor more captured images in the RAM in the collaborative app on themobile device, where it can then be retrieved within a short time frameusing the same session GUID to ensure the security of the capturedimages.

It should be noted that although the micro application and mobile imagecapture (or “MiSnap”) application are illustrated as separateapplications, they may be integrated into a single application that isexecutable on the mobile device rather than separate applications whichrequire separate executions. The configurability of the applications maydepend upon the operating system of the mobile device, but willnonetheless provide the same functionality regardless of the integrationor separation of these applications.

Exemplary Method

One embodiment of a method for browser-based mobile image capture isillustrated in FIG. 2, beginning with the user accessing the internetbrowser application (step 202). When the user arrives at a web pagewhich requests a mobile image of a document or other content, the usermay select a hyperlink that invokes the micro application on the mobiledevice (step 204). The hyperlink may also contain information on thetype of image, document or content to be captured and provide settingsto the mobile image capture application that will improve the processand quality for capturing of the mobile image. In step 206, the mobileimage capture application is invoked and one or more images arecaptured, after which the captured images are stored (step 208) on theremote server. An access token is created in step 210 which providesinformation specific to the capture of the images that will be used toverify that the captured and stored images are not requested by anunauthorized user. In step 212, the user is returned to the internetbrowser application where the user can then request the captured imagesusing the token data (step 214) from the server. Once the token isauthenticated, the captured images are obtained (step 216) bytransmitting them from the stored location on the remote server to theserver of the service providing the web page. The service will thenextract the content from the captured images to utilize in providing theuser with a particular service.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed flowchart of the process for browser-basedmobile image capture, which illustrates the steps taken by the browser,the micro application and the mobile image capture application toprovide the browser-based interface and image capture on the mobiledevice. In this embodiment, at the first step where the user selects ahyperlink on the browser, the hyperlink acts to invoke the microapplication and first determines whether the micro application wasinvoked by the browser hyperlink or by another invocation means (such asa user launching the micro application directly on the mobile device forgeneric image capture applications). In one embodiment, the microapplication may be integrated with the browser application as a pluginapplication which is automatically invoked by the web page at a certainstep or which is invoked by the user selecting an icon for the plugin onthe browser menu. If the micro application was invoked by the browser(Invoked-Yes), several schema will be passed along from the browserhyperlink, including settings for image capture, a server URL where thecaptured images and a token should be stored, and a return URL where thebrowser may be pointed to once the images have been captured. If thereturn URL is included, the micro application will direct the browserapplication to the return URL. If no return URL is supplied, the userwill be returned to the calling URL that initiated the microapplication. Thus, the micro application may store the destinationinformation for the captured image so that the captured image can beautomatically sent back to the destination specified by the web servicewithout requiring the user to perform a separate step. If the microapplication was invoked by other means (Invoked-No), a generic mode ofthe micro application and mobile image capture application are initiatedto provide for a general image capture application using the camera ofthe mobile device and allowing the user to send any captured images to adestination of their choice via numerous transmission modes (textmessage, e-mail, upload to a social media page, cloud storage, etc.).

Once the mobile image capture application is initiated, the camera onthe mobile device is utilized along with a user interface which providesfor automatic capture of images of a document or other content based onthe schema passed in through the hyperlink. When the image or imageshave been captured, the mobile image capture application terminates. Themicro application then determines whether the captured images wererequested by the browser (Invoke-Yes) and transmits the captured imagesto the server. If the captured images were requested by other means(Invoke-No), the captured images may be saved within the memory of themobile device or sent to a destination selected by the user using a userinterface provided by the micro application.

When the captured images are transmitted to the server, a token is alsocreated and stored at the server along with the captured images. Thetoken is designed to prevent unauthorized access to the captured image,and may be created with data from one or more criteria which isassociated with the captured images, such as a time stamp of the timethe images were created, a device identifier which uniquely identifiedthe mobile device which captured the images, or a user identifier forthe user of the mobile device that the user has set up with the web pageservice provider, phone carrier or through the micro application. Thetoken may also be instance specific in that it can only be used once, orit must be used within a certain period of time before it expires. Thecaptured images can only be transmitted from the server when a properrequest is made which identifies the address where the images are storedon the server (server URL) and provides the token which matches thetoken stored at the server. Once the token and captured images aretransmitted to the server, the micro application terminates and themobile device returns the user to the browser application. The browserapplication is still displaying the browser session with the web pagethat requested the captured images, and the browser can eitherautomatically request the captured images or wait for the user to selecta link to then request that the captured images be transmitted to theserver for the web page.

Additional Applications

In another embodiment, the internet browser may be configured to operatewithin the micro application such that the user uses the microapplication to access the web page for the web service that requiresmobile image capture. The embedded browser functionality within themicro application provides for streamlined functionality between thebrowser, micro application and mobile image capture application sincethe entire user interface and browser functionality takes place within asingle application on the mobile device.

In another embodiment, the micro application may also provideindependent functionality as a generic mobile image capture applicationwhich can be invoked separately from the internet browser where the userwould like to capture one or more images of content for their own use orfor use with an application that provides for uploading the imagethrough another application or other communication means. For example, aservice may require that an image be captured and then sent via a textmessage or e-mail message to an address for image processing and contentextraction. The user could then initiate the micro application in theGeneric Mode shown in FIG. 3 in order to capture one or more imagesusing the mobile image capture application and then select an option tosend the captured one or more images via text or e-mail message to adestination address for the service. The mobile image captureapplication on its own would provide benefits over a default imagecapture application on the mobile device by providing functionality forautomatic capture of a high quality image based on a real-timeevaluation of mobile device settings and the image settings.

Computer-Implemented Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates an embodiment of acomputer/server system 400 upon which an embodiment of the inventivemethodology may be implemented. The system 400 includes acomputer/server platform 401 including a processor 402 and memory 403which operate to execute instructions, as known to one of skill in theart. The term “computer-readable storage medium” as used herein refersto any tangible medium, such as a disk or semiconductor memory, thatparticipates in providing instructions to processor 402 for execution.Additionally, the computer platform 401 receives input from a pluralityof input devices 404, such as a keyboard, mouse, touch device or verbalcommand. The computer platform 401 may additionally be connected to aremovable storage device 405, such as a portable hard drive, opticalmedia (CD or DVD), disk media or any other tangible medium from which acomputer can read executable code. The computer platform may further beconnected to network resources 406 which connect to the Internet orother components of a local public or private network. The networkresources 406 may provide instructions and data to the computer platformfrom a remote location on a network 407. The connections to the networkresources 406 may be via wireless protocols, such as the 802.11standards, Bluetooth® or cellular protocols, or via physicaltransmission media, such as cables or fiber optics. The networkresources may include storage devices for storing data and executableinstructions at a location separate from the computer platform 401. Thecomputer interacts with a display 408 to output data and otherinformation to a user, as well as to request additional instructions andinput from the user. The display 408 may therefore further act as aninput device 404 for interacting with a user

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notof limitation. The breadth and scope should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments. Where this document refers totechnologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill inthe art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to theskilled artisan now or at any time in the future. In addition, thedescribed embodiments are not restricted to the illustrated examplearchitectures or configurations, but the desired features can beimplemented using a variety of alternative architectures andconfigurations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and theirvarious alternatives can be implemented without confinement to theillustrated example. One of ordinary skill in the art would alsounderstand how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioningand configurations could be utilized to implement the desired featuresof the described embodiments.

Furthermore, although items, elements or components may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within thescope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer readable medium containinginstructions which, when executed by a computer, perform a processcomprising: accessing a web page of a browser application on a mobiledevice; selecting a hyperlink in the browser application to invoke amicro application on the mobile device, wherein the micro application isconfigured to: initiate a mobile image capture application on the mobiledevice; capture one or more images using the mobile image captureapplication; and transmit the one or more captured images to a server;receiving a request from the web page for the one or more capturedimages; and transmitting the one or more captured images to a server ofthe web page.
 2. A system for browser-based mobile image capture,comprising: a mobile device configured to: receive a request from aninternet browser application displaying a web page on the mobile deviceto capture one or more images; and initiate a micro application on themobile device, the micro application configured to initiate a mobileimage capture application to capture one or more images; a remote serverin communication with the micro application on the mobile device toreceive the one or more captured images; and wherein the one or morecaptured images are transmitted to a server of the web page.